Brooke's Briefing: Better Bus Network Recommendations, Social Media's Role in Gun Violence, and Summer Updates

Posted by
V. Casarrubias
on
July 17, 2024

Dear Neighbor,

As the Council enters its first week of recess, my team and I are taking this time to ensure the policy initiatives we advanced throughout this past year are implemented as planned, conduct oversight over our District agencies and programs, and meet and engage with residents across the city to hear ideas about how we can best serve you.

This week, I want to key you in to two issues I’ve been working on that I think are critical to the success of the District: 1) the critical need for improved transportation options through our WMATA bus system, and 2) the interrelationship between social media and gun violence in DC.

Better Bus Letter to WMATA

Robust, reliable public transportation is absolutely critical to our residents’ daily lives. As part of WMATA’s Better Bus Network community feedback initiative, I sent a letter to General Manager Randy Clarke on Monday calling for two critical considerations to the proposed changes to our DC bus network:

  1. Absorb the existing Circulator routes that are currently planned to be phased out in 2025, and
  2. Extend the proposed routes to better preserve and enhance service across Ward 2.

Collectively, these routes connect our neighborhoods across DC to Downtown and to integral community institutions, including Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, George Washington Hospital and other healthcare facilities, and the Kennedy Center, not to mention countless businesses, community service providers, and homes.

To encourage residents and tourists to visit and support our many vibrant neighborhoods, we must make travel in the District easier and more affordable. Noting the District’s enhanced contribution to WMATA by $218 million to help close its funding gap and to support the agency's capacity to improve service and maintenance of public transit options, I urged WMATA to absorb service along the Circulator routes and preserve existing service on Metrobus routes.

Thank you to the many residents who submitted feedback to me and to WMATA about these proposed routes. I encourage you to check out betterbus.wmata.com to learn more about WMATA’s proposals.

Social Media and Gun Violence in the District

Throughout my time as the Chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, I have heard consistently from community leaders, government agencies, and public safety organizations about one significant modern challenge when it comes to gun violence in the District: social media.

The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) conducted a recent analysis on gun violence in DC and concluded that the motive behind many shootings in the District is not a traditional gang war but rather interpersonal conflict that often stems from “the now ubiquitous social media slight.”

That's why last week, I sent a letter to the CEOs of the largest tech and social media companies to express my deep concern about the impact social media sites have on gun violence and ask them to take a proactive role in removing dangerous content to keep our communities safe.

NICJR’s analysis included interviews with dozens of District police officers, as well as with street outreach workers and violence interruption specialists, who nearly unanimously agreed that the primary driver of gun violence in the District is the deadly mix of group members “making music videos taunting or disrespecting their rivals.” The study further found that beyond music videos, other comments and posts on social media by group members also lead to shootings.

This problem has been ongoing for years, including in the tragic killing of ten-year-old Makiya Wilson in 2018, when five armed men “indiscriminately fired over 50 shots at the residents because of a petty social media feud they had with individuals who associated with that community.” Similarly, in 2020, local rapper Malick Cisse was terribly shot and killed at age 18 after an escalating series of contentious social media posts on Instagram, Instagram Live, and YouTube between him and another local rapper, William Whitaker. Whitaker eventually pled guilty to Cisse’s murder. Virtual public call-outs on social media play a clear role in instigating shootings in the real world.

Councilmember Pinto hearing insights from violence interruption specialists.

As I continue to hear frequent anecdotes from young people, violence interruption specialists and street outreach workers, police officers, and prosecutors about similar videos and invitations for violence being posted on social media that lead to shootings, it is clear that social media companies ought to play a vital role in preventing and reducing gun violence in our communities by removing dangerous and inciting content.

I stand ready to engage and partner with social media companies to ensure that we use every tool we have to more effectively combat gun violence in the District. You can read my letter here.

As we continue to experience an extremely hot July here in DC, please stay safe and stay cool by visiting the dozens of DPR pools and spray parks or find a cooling center near you in all eight wards.

Yours in Service,

Brooke
 

In the last few weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have been out and about in Ward 2 and across the city, including to:

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